The One Where Edward Finally Proposes
by The One With All The Twilight
Summary: After years and years of on again-off again dating, will Edward finally pop the question? Or will something or dare I say someone get in the way?


**"The one with all the Twilight"**

**Twi-Friends contest entry**

**Story Title: The One Where Edward Finally Proposes **

**Summary: **After years and years of on again-off again dating, will Edward finally pop the question? Or will something or dare I say someone get in the way?

**Disclaimer: **Obviously I don't own Twilight or Friends. Shocking...I know.

**Rating: T**

**EPOV**

I smiled as I peered through the window into Bella's hospital room. The sight of her holding our sleeping daughter was enough to make me wish I hadn't waited until now to propose to her. I wish I had just bitten the bullet and popped the question before: Before we decided to take a break, before Jasper proposed to my sister, before we found out she was pregnant, even before she actually gave birth just a few hours ago, but things don't always go according to plan.

I'd been in love with Bella since I was in high school, but something always got in the way. Other relationships, catastrophic events, even one us seeming to be hell-bent on destroying our chances at a happily ever after, there was always something. Now that our daughter was here, I wasn't going to let anything get in the way of finally putting a ring on her finger.

"Edward," my mother hollered as she strolled down the hallway toward me. I smiled as she pushed me out of the way so that she could take a look too. "So, have you asked her yet?" she questioned as she pulled me away from the door.

I sighed.

"That's what I thought," she said with a smirk. "Which is why I brought you this. This is your grandmother's engagement ring, I want you to give it to Bella."

She held up a ring box, the same ring box I had played with as a child, although at that time there wasn't a ring in it. I gasped as I looked at the beautiful ring and realized my mother was giving it to me so that I could give it to Bella. Sure, I'd already purchased a ring, but Bella would rather have the ring that had belonged to my grandmother than something I spent any amount of money on. Bella would find more meaning in a family heirloom than a ring I had picked out for her at the jewelers.

"Mom, we talked about this. I'm not going to ask Bella just because she's the mother of my child."

"Oh, Edward, please. This is Bella, not some girl you picked up in a bar and humped," she said with a roll of her eyes.

"You think young people use that word more than we actually do," I sighed as she shook her head. Why my mother would choose that word to use in a casual conversation with her adult son baffled though I shrugged it off as if it weren't a big deal, I knew that my mother realized how much this meant to me, and how much it would mean to Bella.

"It's beautiful, she'll love it. Thank you Mom," I said as I hugged her and she shushed me.

"You just put that ring on her finger and that'll be thanks enough for me," she finished as Alice and Jasper walked up to us.

"Hey guys," Jasper greeted as he pulled Alice against him and wrapped his arms around her from behind. "Why aren't you two in there?"

"We were just headed in," my mother said as she led the way into Bella's hospital room.

I stuck the ring in the pocket of my jacket, patted it twice to make sure it was definitely in there and then went to see the love of my life. She smiled at me as I walked over to her.

"Hey, beautiful," I greeted her as I kissed her on the cheek.

"Hey," she whispered as she beamed up at me. "Did you want to hold her," she asked as I eagerly nodded my head and took the baby from her.

I rocked her back and forth in my arms as I sang quietly to her. The rest of my family lavished attention on Bella, attention I'm sure she would rather not have.

"So, did you guys name her yet?" I heard Alice ask Bella. I turned to watch the conversation between the two of them as Bella described why her name was currently Baby Girl Cullen. We had been having a hard time deciding and when we'd gone to name her, neither name we had chosen fit our little girl.

"Hey, baby girl," I whispered as she snuggled against my chest. I leaned down and placed a kiss on her little nose and she yawned.

I heard laughter from the hallway as the door opened and my father stepped in with Emmett. He quickly gave Bella a kiss on the forehead before coming over to where I was standing by the window with my mother.

"Can I hold her?" my mom asked as I nodded my head. She took her from me so that I could join my Bella and our friends.

"What are you going to do about a name?" Alice asked as my mother brought her over and handed her to Alice.

"I told you Alice," Bella said as she started to cry and I lifted her left hand to place a kiss on her ring finger.

"We don't have to decide right now," I whispered to her.

"You think you can get the rest of these guys out of here so that I can maybe talk to Bella?" I asked as I motioned for them to do it quickly. The day was fading fast and I was anxious, because I didn't want it to end until I had a chance to ask her to marry me. My mother nodded as she reluctantly gave my beautiful daughter back to me, and I turned to gently lay her down in her bassinet as my family were being pushed out of the room.

I kissed Bella on the cheek as she yawned and told her I'd be right back, that I was just going to walk them down stairs.

As we left the room, I shut off the light and glanced one last time at Bella. We walked down and stood in front of the elevators. It wasn't until I left them down stairs and headed back up to Bella's room that I realized Emmett had not come down with the rest of them. I strode up to Bella's door and stopped just as my hand hit the handle and was shocked at what appeared to be happening inside Bella's room.

Emmett was perched down on one knee as he held what appeared to be a ring in a box out to Bella.

**BPOV**

I smiled as Edward left the room with his family to leave our daughter and me to rest for a little while. I couldn't wait for him to get back so we could talk more about us. The kiss we'd shared shortly after she'd been born was just like every kiss I'd always had with him. My skin was on fire the moment he touched me and I didn't know if it was the emotions of the situation or the history we had, but I was glad that it seemed as though he might be on the same page as me.

Edward and I had always been one leg shy of actually sealing the deal. I shook my head as I thought about all of our past attempts to be together. First there had been high school where I had barely noticed Edward because he was so shy. Then when I'd moved back to the city after college and had run into him, of course I had been on a date at the time and _that_ had been awkward.

Then there was the time we actually dated for a few months, but then he'd gotten too involved with the hospital and hadn't felt like he was spending enough time with me so he suggested we take a break. Well, a break to me meant break up and I'd cried for days as Alice tried to console me. She had assured me that we'd be back together in no time. Well, it was around that time that Edward ended up drunk and had a one night stand with some chick named Tanya that apparently worked at the coffee shop with Mike. That had devastated me and when his hours had changed and he'd suggested we try again, I shook him off and ended up miserable and alone because I was afraid of getting my hopes up again.

So here I was, a new mom to his baby girl...his baby momma, apparently. Yet I still did not have a ring on my finger to solidify that I was in fact taken. I knew he'd purchased a ring. I had found it in the kitchen drawer when I'd gone searching for my trusty orange peeler. Though it was beautiful, it surely cost him way too much money and was certainly not what I would have picked out if I had a say in it. I wanted a ring that meant something, like the one of a kind ring that Jasper had given Alice that he'd designed with a local jeweler, or the ring that Carlisle had given Esme that would one day be passed down to their grandchildren.

I sighed as I contemplated whether I should try and sleep or just read one of the books I had packed. I hadn't yet decided when there was a knock at the door and Emmett poked his head in.

"Hey," I said with a smile as he walked over and moved the chair closer to the bed. "Why aren't you down stairs with everybody?" I asked.

"Well, I had something I wanted to talk to you about," he replied as he moved Edwards jacket out of the chair and something fell to the ground at his feet. "Oh, I uh," he started to stutter as he picked up whatever had fallen and turned towards me with his arms held out.

I gasped as I brought my hands up to cover my mouth and looked at the gorgeous ring that he was holding in his hand.

"Oh, Emmett," I said as I started to cry again. This was definitely not something I had been expecting. We had been good friends for years, but I never really saw him that way.

"What?" he asked with a look of confusion on his face. "Oh," he said as he nodded his head and recognized what he'd just done.

"I'm sorry, Emmett, but I can't marry you," I sighed as he looked down at the ring and stood up to take a seat in the chair next to me. He placed the ring on the bedside table next to me as he grasped my hands in his.

"I know, Bells," he smiled as he kissed me on the cheek.

"You know," I stated like a question as I cocked my head.

"Of course, everyone knows you're supposed to be with Edward," he said with a laugh. "Besides, I wanted to talk to you. I met someone," he grinned as he seemed to be lost in thought.

"Emmett," I snapped my fingers.

"What? Oh yeah, sorry about that."

We continued to talk about the woman he'd met. Apparently she was a nurse here at the hospital and she had struck up a conversation with him while he was roaming the hallways. He bid me goodbye before stepping into the hallway and mumbling a few things. As Edward stepped into the room, I noticed the breathtaking smile that had been on his face all day was nowhere to be found. Instead, his face looked sullen as he approached the baby bed next to mine.

"Hey," I said with a smile, hoping he'd at least look at me.

"Hey," he mumbled as he continued to look down at our daughter.

I sat there, waiting for him to look at me, but he never did. Instead he chose to stand next to my bed, without acknowledging me at all until his parents came into the room.

"Sorry," Esme whispered as she looked between the two of us. "I forgot my purse," she motioned to the purse in the corner of the room.

Edward slipped out with his dad just as Esme saw the ring box on the table.

"Oh!" she gasped. "He finally asked you?" she said as she grabbed my hand and a look of disappointment crossed over her features.

I shook my head as I explained how it had fallen out of his coat pocket and that Emmett had placed it on the table.

"He was going to ask, though?" I asked as she looked at me and slowly nodded her head. "Then why didn't he..." I started to say before it all made sense. He must have thought I'd already seen it and the element of surprise was no longer with him. This is why I had told Emmett to not fret over asking. "Well, I hope he still intends to," I said with a sad sigh. I honestly needed to stop thinking he was going to ask, because it clearly isn't something that's on his mind today.

"I'm sure he will," she assured me with a pat on the hand as Edward and Carlisle came back into the room with the rest of our friends.

"So, I've been thinking," Alice said as she reached in and picked up our little girl.

"Well, that can't be a good thing," Emmett joked.

"Anyway," she said with a wave of her hand as she walked over and handed her to me. "I've been thinking that I might have a name that would be perfect for her."

"You mean one of the names you've had picked out since you were in grade school?" Edward joked as he took a seat next to me in the chair where his jacket was slung over the arm rest. He patted his pocket and did a double take as he stuck his hand inside and smiled.

"Oh stop it," Alice replied with a role of her eyes.

"I'd like to hear them, any suggestions certainly couldn't hurt."

When she told me the baby girl name she had picked out I knew it would be perfect, but I couldn't bear to take that away from her.

"But you love that name," I sighed as I realized we still didn't have a name.

"Yeah," she replied. "But I love you more," she said as she pulled Emma closer to her. "Hi, Emma," she cooed.

The nurse came in and announced that visiting hours would be over soon and suggested we start saying our goodbyes. I received a lot of attention from them as they all prepared to go home for the evening. I saw Edward stand and move toward the door with the rest of them and was saddened that he'd let another day pass by without talking about _us. _I felt the tears prick my eyes as I realized that nothing was going to push him in the right direction. Clearly nothing I did could warrant a proposal. I mean I had just had his baby and if that wasn't enough to drop him to his knee, I didn't know that anything ever would be. I looked back up at him and was surprised when he waved them all goodbye before shutting the door and coming back over to me with Emma in his arms. He placed her in her crib next to me before he came and sat on the edge of my bed.

"How are you feeling?" he asked as he picked up my hand and laced his fingers with mine. I quickly blinked the tears out of my eyes and gave him a timid smile.

"Pretty good, a little tired and emotional, but those feelings should pass."

He nodded his head.

"Edward."

"Bella."

We both said at the same time, causing both of us to chuckle.

"Why don't you go ahead," he prompted.

"Okay," I said as I smoothed out my sheets, suddenly nervous to start the conversation that could change out lives. "I think we should talk about us," I said as I motioned between him and I.

"I would agree, but before you say anything. I just wanted to let you know that I love you and want whatever will make you happy and if being with Emmett will make you happy," he started to go off on a tangent, but as soon as I heard Emmett's name I held up my hand to stop him.

"Emmett?" I asked. "What does Emmett have to do with you and me?"

"Well, I mean I saw you two and he was and then you guys..." he couldn't finish a complete sentence and I felt bad about the laughter that was bubbling up inside of me but I couldn't hold it in any longer. I laughed and laughed as I gasped for air.

"I'm sorry," I apologized as I zipped my lips and threw away the key. "What exactly did you see? Was it him picking up the ring that fell out of your jacket? Or him sit down to hug me as I got all emotional because I was hoping it had been you asking me?" I asked as I scooted over on the bed.

"You mean you didn't, I mean...you guys aren't?" He shook his head as realization dawned on him that he hadn't seen what he'd thought. He cleared his throat a few times as he stood up and dug around in his pocket before dropping to his knee. "Bella," he started as I smiled at him. "I think the reason it's never worked with anybody else is because we're meant to be with each other. You have made me the happiest man on the planet and have given me a child. I know it's a bit backwards, but I want to make it right. Watching Emmett down on his knee in what looked like a proposal made me realize that I couldn't let another day go by without making you mine. Bella, will you marry me?"

I nodded my head as tears streamed down my face and he stood up. His hands wiped the tears from my face as he bent down to kiss me. He placed the ring on my finger, followed by a kiss and then another kiss. As he pulled away, I looked down at the ring, expecting to see the ring that I had found in the drawer recently and was shocked to see Grandma Cullen's ring on my finger.

"Edward," I gasped. "This is-"

"If you don't like it, I have another one already picked out. You can even choose," he started to say as I shook my head.

"No, it's perfect," I whispered to him, happy didn't even begin to describe how I was feeling. It was so much more than I had been expecting and I was suddenly glad that things had turned out the way they had. "I love you," I said as I looked at the man that was made for me.

"I love you, too," he said as he looked at me.

"Thanks for asking me," I chuckled, "Finally."


End file.
